Management Detail

Stinkbug

Reason for Concern:1) Adults and egg masses on ripe fruit reduce quality and can be a harvest fruit contaminant.
2) Stink bugs feed on developing seeds and on stems and foliage when seeds are not present.
3) The degree of damage depends, on the plant development stage when it is pierced by stink bugs. Punctured immature fruit and pods deform as they develop.

Identification/Symptoms:
Adult - Shield-shaped, green or brown and 14.0 to 19.0 mm long. Barrel-shaped eggs of the green stink bug are yellow to green, later turning pink to gray, about 1.4 x 1.2 mm. The white, kettle-shaped eggs of the brown stink bug are slightly smaller.

Nymph - Smaller than adults, but similar in shape. Green stink bug nymphs are predominantly black when small, but become green with orange and black markings as they mature. Nymphs of the brown species turn light green.

Life Cycle:
Overwintering as adults in ditch banks, under boards or similar materials, they become active in spring. Each female lays several hundred eggs in clusters (averaging 36 eggs) on leaves and stems but also on pods. Nymphs hatch and pass through 5 instars before becoming adults. Nymphs and adults pierce plants with needlelike mouthparts, sucking sap from pods, buds, blossoms and seeds.
About 4 to 5 weeks elapse between hatching and adult emergence with high populations in fall.